TL;DR
- Google’s new smart speaker may be called the “Google Home Speaker.”
- It’s reported that the device may support “360 audio.”
- The APK teardown also appears to confirm the rebrand of Nest Aware to “Google Home Premium.”
During Made by Google in August, you may recall that an unfamiliar piece of hardware made a brief surprise appearance. The device was a smart speaker that looked like a cross between an Amazon Echo Dot and an Apple HomePod Mini. While Google has yet to say anything about the smart speaker since the teaser, a new report may have revealed some details.
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According to strings in version 3.41 of Google Home for Android (via 9to5Google), this unannounced device may be called the “Google Home Speaker.” This is interesting as it signals a departure from the Nest branding and a homecoming to the Google Home naming scheme. Of course, it’s always possible that this name could just be a placeholder.
This APK teardown also mentions what could be a feature for the speaker. “Enjoy 360 audio on the Google Home Speaker.” Given the spherical design of the device, it seems likely that the speaker would support such a feature.
On top of the smart speaker news, it appears we have more confirmation on Nest Aware being rebranded to “Google Home Premium.” That includes Nest Aware Plus, which looks like it’s being rebranded to “Google Home Premium Advanced.” The lines of code add a few descriptions, including:
- Keep up with what’s important to you with detailed AI event descriptions, notifications, and daily summaries of what happened at home.
- Google Home Premium is included in your Google One subscription. Get more video history and intelligent alerts by setting it up.
- Just describe what you want to automate, or ask to search your video and home history.
It appears there are also mentions of E911 emergency calling and a “redesigned app” with an “Ask Home” feature. This comes nearly a month after an earlier report revealed the incoming rebrand and a trio of devices that mark the first major Nest refresh in years.
It’s important to note that APK teardowns only help to predict features that may arrive and are based on work-in-progress code. There’s a possibility that these predicted features may not make it to a public release.
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